Gone for Now

Brooks Brothers 3/2 Roll Discontinued

The Brooks Brothers 1818 3/2 roll sack blazer was a trad staple. It was a right of passage of sorts in the trad world. It was almost always the first blazer recommended to any new trad convert. While I haven’t heard anything official (I may even be late to the party) it appears that the much beloved Brooks Brothers 1818 3/2 roll sack blazer is no longer being offered.

Over the past year or so I have noticed that classic 3/2 roll Brooks Brothers sack blazer was not being restocked. This was an immediate red flag. At this point in my life I am pretty familiar with the signs of a product being discontinued. For those of you that aren’t as experienced with this any time that you see sizes not being restocked it usually means one of 3 things. The product is being discontinued, the product is being updated, or there is a production issue. In this instance I would guess discontinued, because more than enough time has passed for them to update or fix production issues.

It looks like we have lost another trad classic. This one hit me harder than some of our other losses. It was my first 3/2 roll sack blazer. It was a big deal to me when I bought it. While we look back on this blazer with fondness it’s important to remember that we still have options such as J.Press and O’Connells, but only as long as we support them. After that it’s just second hand and MTM or maybe we will see a restock. Hedge your bets.

BB 3/2 Sack Blazer
Brooks Brothers Blazer Close up
Brooks Brothers 3/2 Sack Blazer
oxford cloth button down
Jerrod Swanton is a simple man interested in simple, classic, and traditional style.

8 Comments on "Gone for Now"

  1. JDV says:

    And so goes the Brooks saga. They also no longer make traditional fit slacks and jackets, I am told by customer service. What’s more, they refer to the Madison fit shirtings as their “regular” fit and call traditional fit “relaxed.” I was in J. Press’ Washington DC store in early February and they had no blue blazers other than the doeskin model and the very thin tropical model. Plus, they told me that the mid-weight blue blazer only comes in slim fit now. We will likely see each maker cut a deal with Amazon or, worse, Walmart or Target in a year or so.

  2. Woofboxer says:

    Another milestone in Brooks Brothers decline, in our eyes, they are to all intents just another Italian menswear store. How long before they stop making button down collar shirts?
    But they must have more branches now than at any time in their history?

  3. Irving Steinberg says:

    Great to see your posts again. Just some of perspective, Brooks has experimented with its standard offerings in the past, though discontinuing this factotum of their brand would be a bold step. In distancing themselves from the defining style of their brand, they ether hope to free themselves of the burden of their own history and break out of a ever shrinking box, or they will become unmoored from their niche market in hope of breaking into a broader market (which could backfire and leave them as just another name representing nothing but a bottom line).

    In that vein, I came across a nice looking tweed brooks brothers sport coat on eBay from what I believe is the 1980s, judging by the label. It has all the obvious hallmarks of brooks brothers Ivy trad style, such as lower patch pockets, 3/2 roll, 2 button cuffs, moderate lapels (3-3.25 by the look), natural shoulders, and black and white herringbone with light overcheck (no rear picture, so I only assume center vent of moderate length).

    However, it has only a 2 button front. It rolls like a 3/2 but there is no top third button. Perhaps, like their attempts at darted suits and shoulder pads, this is an experiment. We shall see. (And yes, I’m considering buying it but am at odds of the 2 button stance on what should have been a 3/2 front).

    Cheers!

  4. Charlottesville says:

    Another classic gone. It is hardly surprising though, considering BB’s long decline. I am thankful to have a couple of these blazers in different weights. If one could have only a single sport coat (terrible thought!), this would be the one to get.

  5. Andrew K. says:

    I wonder whether anyone currently makes a 2-button sack suit or blazer.

    Have seen other combinations (3/2 sack, 3/2 darted, 2-button darted), but not that one.

  6. rl1856 says:

    I truth this item was but a corpse living on to be name checked from time to time by BB, as a cynical way to say they haven’t forgotten their roots. About 6 years ago I went to my local BB store to replace an older 3r2 NBB. My salesman ordered my size, and I dutifully returned 2 weeks later for a fitting. The jacket did not fit. Another was ordered. The 2nd jacked did not fit. Both were cut noticeably different than the BB 3r2 I sought to replace. The new(er) jackets were shorter in the body, and much trimmer through the shoulders, with a higher and tighter armhole. The jacket pattern had been re-cut to fit a Brooklyn Hipster (like so many of their items…). A week or so later I visited another store that was a dealer for Southwick, and could accomoadate MtM orders. The store owner looked at my older jacket, examined the pockets to find RN codes etc and then called his Southwick rep. The rep told him that my existing jacket was made by Southwick for BB, to a standard pattern that was still available and they could easily handle an MtM order. The store owner was instructed to gather all of my measurements, and then confirm measurements against my jacket. A few weeks later, my new jacket arrived, and fit perfectly after slight adjustments to sleeve and collar. The irony is that BB owned Southwick at the time, but I had to go directly to Southwick to purchase an item that was previously available in -every- BB store in the world ! And now there is a rumor that Southwick is phasing out non BB MtM…..ie unavailable from 3rd party vendors.

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